You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them ontime (no later than Friday, October 6). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
Note: Like other plays we have dealt with, the construction of this play is unique and often challenging to readers. It generally works well on the stage but not so well in the study. So, the questions posed about the construction of the play do not easily follow Ball’s method of analysis. So, I have taken the liberty to change up some of the questions.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
The stasis in this play involves the events in crown heights in 1991, when a Jewish Rabbi who's driver was speeding and collided with another vehicle. This caused the Rabbi's vehicle to spin off and hit two children, one was injured and the other was killed. This, and rising other tensions caused a riot to ensure in the days after.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
The intrusion in this play, was difficult to point out as the structure of this play is unconventional. It's fast paced and if you're not looking carefully enough you might miss it. The intrusion in this play is when one of the characters, Rabbi Joseph Spielman, directly addresses the accident. While the other characters before him mentioned aspects of the accident, relationships, and other concepts that contributed to the tense and explosive situation, the Rabbi directly addressed the accident. He called our attention back onto it, and begins the conversation on the different points of views on the incident that sparked the riots.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
I think perhaps the reason Smith chose to so interviews after this particular event is because it call us to ask what we believe about our own identity, our own character. In a time where identity and character are called into question, where do we stand? What does it mean to be American, what aspects play into our concept of being American? Does race play into the view of ourselves and how we view others, does it still fill a vital purpose? Does it provide a sense of community, or does it only seek to divide in today's society? The title "Fires in the Mirror" begs us to take a cold realistic analysis of ourselves, and maybe to a larger extent the country. We examine the fire, or passions that drive us, why we do what we do. It could also have us examine the things that consume us with anger.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will the Jewish and Black communities find a solution to the problem?
Will there be retribution for Carmel Cato?
How will the relationships between these people change as a result of this conflict?
How important is the concept of race in today's society?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The conflict in this play is obviously a societal one. The conflict between the Jewish community who are seen as too snooty, prude and stuck up and the Black community who feel victimized by the Jewish community. So in this play we see two different aspects of society pit against each other in total rage.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
One of the most theatrical parts in this play is at the very ending where we see the father of the child who was killed in the accident, in tears and sobbing while recalling it. Another extremely emotionally charged moment is when the Jewish woman was reading from a book that involved a man who was forced to effectively kill his entire family during the holocaust. We also see a strong theatrical moment is the discussion with Roslyn Malamud who gets very, loud during the performance this grabs the attention of the audience and adds meaning and emotion the the words she says.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
Note: Like other plays we have dealt with, the construction of this play is unique and often challenging to readers. It generally works well on the stage but not so well in the study. So, the questions posed about the construction of the play do not easily follow Ball’s method of analysis. So, I have taken the liberty to change up some of the questions.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
The stasis in this play involves the events in crown heights in 1991, when a Jewish Rabbi who's driver was speeding and collided with another vehicle. This caused the Rabbi's vehicle to spin off and hit two children, one was injured and the other was killed. This, and rising other tensions caused a riot to ensure in the days after.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
The intrusion in this play, was difficult to point out as the structure of this play is unconventional. It's fast paced and if you're not looking carefully enough you might miss it. The intrusion in this play is when one of the characters, Rabbi Joseph Spielman, directly addresses the accident. While the other characters before him mentioned aspects of the accident, relationships, and other concepts that contributed to the tense and explosive situation, the Rabbi directly addressed the accident. He called our attention back onto it, and begins the conversation on the different points of views on the incident that sparked the riots.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
I think perhaps the reason Smith chose to so interviews after this particular event is because it call us to ask what we believe about our own identity, our own character. In a time where identity and character are called into question, where do we stand? What does it mean to be American, what aspects play into our concept of being American? Does race play into the view of ourselves and how we view others, does it still fill a vital purpose? Does it provide a sense of community, or does it only seek to divide in today's society? The title "Fires in the Mirror" begs us to take a cold realistic analysis of ourselves, and maybe to a larger extent the country. We examine the fire, or passions that drive us, why we do what we do. It could also have us examine the things that consume us with anger.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will the Jewish and Black communities find a solution to the problem?
Will there be retribution for Carmel Cato?
How will the relationships between these people change as a result of this conflict?
How important is the concept of race in today's society?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The conflict in this play is obviously a societal one. The conflict between the Jewish community who are seen as too snooty, prude and stuck up and the Black community who feel victimized by the Jewish community. So in this play we see two different aspects of society pit against each other in total rage.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
One of the most theatrical parts in this play is at the very ending where we see the father of the child who was killed in the accident, in tears and sobbing while recalling it. Another extremely emotionally charged moment is when the Jewish woman was reading from a book that involved a man who was forced to effectively kill his entire family during the holocaust. We also see a strong theatrical moment is the discussion with Roslyn Malamud who gets very, loud during the performance this grabs the attention of the audience and adds meaning and emotion the the words she says.